Blog 4

Ø What is your plan to get involved on campus? What are your interests? Will you or have you joined any student organizations? Which two events besides UNITED & Career Major Fair do you plan on attending?
~I plan to get involved in campus by playing intramurals with my house, also by joining superior edge, going to football and hockey games, and by just going to events on campus such as like homecoming.

Ø Fast Food Nation - Chapter 6:

Ø What are some of the problems facing cattle ranchers?
~Cattle ranchers biggest problem seems to be the bigger cattle corporations that can more more than the small farms can. Another problem is the growing cost of supplies needed to maintain there farms.

Ø What are “captive supplies” of cattle? (“The four major meatpacking companies now control about 20 percent of the live cattle in the U.S. through ‘captive supplies’” (138). (See also p. 142).
~Captive supplies are used to maintain the market, and is where companies can maintain cattle through company-owned feedlots or purchase the cattle in advance through forward contracts. They obtain cattle by confidential agreements with wealthy ranchers, never reavealing the true price being paid.

Ø What was the impact of the Chicken McNugget on the poultry industry?
~The impact is that it turned a meal that normally would be sat down and carved on a table amongst a family into something able to be eaten while driving a car. It has also encouraged production into nothing more than chicken farmers that are now little more than serfs.

Ø How does the nutritional value of a McNugget compare to a hamburger?
~A McNugget has double the amount of fat per ounce compared to a burger, due to how it is processed. However, normally chicken is much healthier than beef.

Ø How does the suicide rate for ranchers and farmers compare with the rate for U.S. citizens in general? Why?
~The Suicide rate for ranchers and farmers as compared with the rate for U.S citizens is about three times higher. As ranchers traditional way of life is destroyed so are their beliefs.

Ø Do you feel as if there is any healthy fast food available to consumers? If so, where and why? Give specific examples of products.. Please be honest and support your opinions. For example, I feel that Subway's Veggie Sub is extremely healthy due to its freshly-cut produce, cheese, and fresh-baked breads. I actually talked to a friend who works at Subway and he said in MQT, they slice their own produce. (My fear was that it arrived pre-sliced and filled with preservatives). It's not organic, but it's a start.
~I am not to sure that there is any fast food that is healthy. I feel like it is fast food which in and of it self makes it unhealthy. If it was supposed to be healthy it wouldn't be fast. However I do feel like there probably is some fast food that is healthy. For instance I agree that certain Subway subs are healthy as long as the meat and cheeses and vegtables are cut fresh and not shipped. Certain salads and McDonalds and Wendy's can be healthy if you get it without the dressing and most of the other stuff on the salad it self. In general it is just better to go without eating fast food. It is fast because they change it to make it fast so they can give it to you faster than you could get it at home. If you could get it faster at home you wouldn;t eat it and they would make no money. Fast food should be eaten only when needed and very sparingly.